The invention relates to an ammonia storage system comprising a thermally activatable ammonia store as well as to a method for operating such a system.
Ammonia storage systems are used in a wide area of applications. However, one area of particular interest is the storage of ammonia in vehicles run by diesel powered engines, where the ammonia can be used in a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) process for the catalytic decomposition of NOx compounds.
A particularly advantageous class of ammonia storage systems is based on thermally activatable ammonia stores where ammonia is physically or chemically bound in a solid storage matrix. Heating the matrix increases the vapour pressure of ammonia and allows to release ammonia at well-defined and secure rates. Examples of such systems are e.g. described in WO 2006/081824 and WO 2007/000170 by Amminex A/S, Denmark.
However, for any type of ammonia storage system, there should be leak detectors that-are able to detect leakage of ammonia from the system. Such leak detectors can e.g. be formed by ammonia detectors located outside the storage system.